Thursday, April 17th "2025" Daily Prep
Welcome to day 107, known as Maundy Thursday, Herbalist day, World Malbec Day, World Circus Day. Your star sign is Aries and your birthstone is Diamond.
1951 – The Peak District (which covers Derbyshire, Cheshire, Staffordshire, Yorkshire and Greater Manchester) was officially confirmed as the United Kingdom’s first National Park.
Todays birthdays
1942 – David Bradley (83), English actor known for his roles as Argus Filch in the Harry Potter film series and as Walder Frey in Game of Thrones, born in York, North Yorkshire.
1957 – Nick Hornby (68), English writer (Fever Pitch, High Fidelity and About a Boy) all of which were adapted into feature films, born in Redhill, Surrey.
1959 – Sean Bean (66), English actor (Sharpe, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Patriot Games, Game of Thrones), born in Handsworth, Sheffield.
1971 – Claire Sweeney (54), English actress (Brookside) and TV Personality (Loose Women, 60 Minute Makeover), born in Walton, Liverpool.
1974 – Victoria Beckham (51), English fashion designer and singer who rose to prominence in the 1990s as a member of the girl group the Spice Girls, born in Harlow, Essex.
Famous deaths
2004 – Caron Keating (b. 1962), Northern Irish television host (Blue Peter, This Morning) and daughter of Gloria Hunniford.
The day today
1940 – The birth, in Liverpool, of Billy Fury. He equalled The Beatles’ record of 24 hits in the 1960s, and spent 332 weeks in the UK charts, without ever reaching Number One. In 2003 a bronze statue of Fury was unveiled at the Albert Dock, Liverpool.
1949 – At midnight 26 Irish counties officially left the British Commonwealth. A 21-gun salute on O’Connell Bridge, Dublin, ushered in the Republic of Ireland.
1951 – Designated as a National Park in December 1950, the Peak District (which covers Derbyshire, Cheshire, Staffordshire, Yorkshire and Greater Manchester) was officially confirmed as the United Kingdom’s first National Park.
1969 – The age at which a person was eligible to vote in Britain was lowered from 21 to 18.
1984 – WPC Yvonne Fletcher was shot dead during an anti Gadaafi protest outside the Libyan People’s Bureau in London. Ten others were wounded and the events led to an 11-day siege of the building. Diplomatic relations with Libya were severed on 23rd April and her killer escaped under the cloak of diplomatic immunity.
1986 – British journalist John McCarthy was kidnapped in Beirut. He was not released until August 1991.
2013 – The funeral of Baroness Margaret Thatcher (dubbed the “Iron Lady”). She was the longest-serving British Prime Minister of the 20th century (11 years and 208 days) and the first woman to have held the office.
2014 – Bolton council voted overwhelmingly in favour of schools being encouraged to fly the union flag and to sing the national anthem in assemblies to foster patriotism in the young. The motion was proposed by Conservative councillor Mudasir Dean, who said he was inspired by his grandfather, who became a ‘true English gentleman’ after settling in Bolton from India in the 1920s.
Today in music
1960 – Touring in the UK, 21-year-old US singer Eddie Cochran was killed when the taxi he was travelling in crashed into a lamppost on Rowden Hill, Chippenham, Wiltshire, (where a plaque now commemorates the event). Songwriter Sharon Sheeley and singer Gene Vincent survived the crash, Cochran’s current hit at the time was ‘Three Steps to Heaven’.
1964 – The Rolling Stones released their first album. The debut album was called ……… The Rolling Stones! It was released a month later in the US with the title ‘England’s Newest Hit Makers’.
1965 – Bob Dylan’s second studio album ‘The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan was at No.1 on the UK chart. The album opens with ‘Blowin’ in the Wind’, which became an anthem of the 1960s, and an international hit for folk trio Peter, Paul & Mary.
1971 – All four Beatles had solo singles in the UK charts, Paul McCartney with ‘Another Day’, John Lennon ‘Power To The People’, George Harrison ‘My Sweet Lord’ and Ringo Starr ‘It Don’t Come Easy.’
1973 – Pink Floyd’s album The Dark Side Of The Moon went gold in the US. The LP went on to stay in the US chart for more than ten years and became one of the longest charting rock records of all time.
1993 – David Bowie went to No.1 on the UK album chart with his eighteenth studio album Black Tie White Noise. It was his first solo release in the 1990s after spending time with his hard rock band Tin Machine.
1994 – Pink Floyd started a four-week run at No.1 on the UK album chart with The Division Bell, their fourth No.1 album.
1998 – Linda McCartney died after a long battle against cancer. As well as a being a member of Wings, she became an animal rights campaigner and launched her own brand of vegetarian food.
2024 – Metallica frontman James Hetfield had a new tattoo which included some of Lemmy Kilmister’s ashes – in a suitably rock ‘n’ roll tribute to the Motorhead star. In an Instagram post, Hetfield showed off the ace of spades design, etched on his middle finger. The ink was mixed with a portion of the remains given to Hetfield after Lemmy died from cancer in 2015
Today in history
1194 – Richard I (the Lionheart) was crowned king of England for the second time, after earlier surrendering his kingdom to the Holy Roman emperor Henry VI.
1397 – Geoffrey Chaucer told the Canterbury Tales for the first time at the court of Richard II. The tales were told as part of a story-telling contest by a group of pilgrims as they travelled together on a journey from Southwark to the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral.
1775 – Paul Revere, a renowned silversmith, is better remembered as a folk hero of the American Revolution who this night in 1775 made a dramatic ride on horseback to warn Boston area residents of an imminent attack by British troops.
1860 – The first world title boxing match took place near Farnborough, Hampshire, when Briton Tom Sayers took on American John Heenan. Despite being 46 lb lighter, Sayers forced a draw after 42 rounds of bare-knuckle fighting.
1865 – American boarding house owner Mary Surratt was arrested for taking part in President Lincoln’s assassination. Surratt was later hanged for her crime, becoming the first woman to be executed by the US government.
1888 – The formation of the English Football League took place at a formal meeting in the Royal Hotel, Manchester.